There seems to be a common denominator among the more than 100 artists and street performers in town for Boulder's annual Open Arts Fest.

"We like to get to communities where the demographics can afford art," says Vicki Bolen, a paper artist from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

"Oh yeah," says Divide ceramics artist Deborah Hager. "Colorado is a great place to sell art."

""There are liberal people here who like art and theater, and who also have money to spend," says flame juggler Daniel Edwards, who moved from Minnesota to Boulder in June.

"You can go to other liberal towns like Portland, Oregon, for example. They've got people there who love street theater and love watching art, but they don't have money to throw at it because they don't really have much to give. It's great to do shows for them and get the smiles and the laughs, but it doesn't pay."

At this year's Open Arts Fest, which ran 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and will reopen from from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, the artists say business has been especially good.

Thanks in part to sunny skies and temperatures in the 90s, the Pearl Street Mall between 11th and 15th streets was completely flooded for the fair's first day. One glassblower from Wyoming said the scene reminded her of a carnival.

Aside from the relative affluence of the local clientele, the artists said that, in most respects, the event was not much different from other outdoor art fairs they'd worked.

But there's at least one more thing that sets Open Arts Fest apart: Craftsmen and women say it's an opportunity for them to capitalize on an obsession, seemingly held by locals and tourists alike, with the Rocky Mountains.

Indeed, it's a struggle to take 20 steps in any direction without running into some sort of mountain imagery. They're etched onto leather bracelets, painted on canvas and carved into wood.

From the right angle, even the free dollops of vegan cheese spread — which on Saturday drew hordes most artists could only dream of — looked a bit like Longs Peak.

"Tourists, many of them come from the east coast or the great plains, and don't have mountains. I guess they hope bringing that kind of art to their home allows them to experience the mountains they don't have."

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